St. Bernard Parish couple sentenced to jail for not promptly alerting authorities that friend OD'd on heroin

A husband and wife in St. Bernard Parish will spend time in jail after pleading guilty to negligent homicide for not promptly alerting authorities that their friend had overdosed on heroin in their home, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office said.

The man who overdosed subsequently died, authorities said.

State District Judge Kirk Vaughn sentenced Kristopher Howse, 24, and his wife, Shelley Howse, 25, to four years and two years, respectively, on Tuesday after their pleas.

Chase Julian, 24, of Arabi, died in the October 2009 incident, the Sheriff's Office said.

Kristopher Howse called the 911 emergency number about 1 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2009, to report that Julian had overdosed on heroin, which the victim had injected at Howse's home. Julian allegedly took the heroin much earlier in the evening, possibly about 7 p.m., and had immediately fallen unconscious, authorities said. Kristopher Howse said he had snorted some heroin but didn't inject any.

Kristopher Howse, under questioning, said that after Julian became unconscious he contacted a friend who advised putting the victim in a cold bath to try to revive him, which didn't work. Howse said he also tried to perform CPR and at some point put Julian in a vehicle to look for a possible emergency room and called 911 on the way.

Kristopher Howse acknowledged to authorities he took Julian to New Orleans to purchase heroin earlier in the day. Both Howse and his wife were booked wth negligent homicide because they both were in the home and didn't call for help for hours, the Sheriff's Office said.

Julian had been arrested once on heroin charges, the Sheriff's Office said. Kristopher Howse had a previous drug arrest involving Ecstasy. Shelly Howse did not have a prior record.

Julian, the victim in the Howse case, had been arrested once on heroin charges in St. Bernard. Kristopher Howse had one previous drug arrest involving Ecstasy and his wife didn't have a prior criminal history.